"Put some power into it! What's with that half-dead pitch?!"
Kanzaki Ryou swung fiercely.
Crack!
The baseball shot off into the distance.
He glared at the pitcher in front of him.
"Tojo! Focus!"
From a distance, it looked less like batting practice—
and more like Kanzaki Ryou personally disciplining a junior.
Tojo Hideaki stood frozen.
Seidou's fifth batter.
A nationally famous slugger.
And at the same time—
the Ace who had led Seidou to win Summer Koshien.
Tojo had watched Kanzaki Ryou on television back in middle school.
Now that same person stood in front of him.
As his batter.
As his idol.
How could he not be nervous?
"I—I'm sorry!"
Tojo bowed quickly, then clenched his fists.
Calm down.
I can't drag Kanzaki-senpai down.
The second pitch came in faster.
Stronger.
But—
Crack!
Another clean hit.
Ball after ball.
Across both fields, the twenty first-string members continued smashing pitches.
Only one person stood out.
On Field B—
after nearly fifty pitches,
Sawamura Eijun had only managed to make contact three times.
An absolutely tragic success rate.
When batting practice finally ended, every first-string member felt their arms screaming in protest.
Unlike simple swings, actual batting drained far more stamina.
The four first-years could barely close their hands.
Their forearms felt numb.
Before anyone could celebrate—
Coach Kataoka's voice boomed.
"Five-minute break!"
"After that—five laps of frog jumps around the field!"
The second- and third-years sighed.
Expected.
The four first-years turned ghostly pale.
Five minutes later—
twenty players hopped around the field like dying frogs.
By the end, Sawamura collapsed face-first.
"I'm… gonna die…"
Arima Kazusa dropped to his knees beside him.
Furuya lay on his back, staring blankly at the sky like a corpse.
Only Kominato Haruichi, hands on knees, managed to stay upright.
"G-Get up…"
"Training… isn't over yet…"
The three struggled to stand.
Sawamura had barely straightened his back—
"BLECH!!!"
His stomach violently convulsed.
Half-digested food and stomach acid exploded out.
"Blech—ugh—blegh!"
The smell hit instantly.
Arima Kazusa's face turned green.
"Blech~~~"
Furuya followed a second later.
"Ugh…"
Only Kominato Haruichi, who had wisely eaten less, survived.
The rest of the first string retreated several meters.
"Horrifying…"
"That amount… might be a team record."
"Told him not to stuff himself."
"Stupid first-year."
Before anyone could recover—
Coach Kataoka's megaphone rang out again.
"First day training complete!"
"Finally—twenty laps around the field!"
"Huh?!"
Sawamura turned pale and collapsed backward again.
After finishing the laps, the four first-years clung to each other and dragged themselves back to the dormitory.
Compared to them, the older first-string members still had energy left.
Kanzaki Ryou returned, showered quickly, then went outside to call his sister, Kumiko.
Around the dormitory courtyard, many second-string members were still training on their own.
They knew.
When summer ended, the third-years would retire.
Opportunities would open.
No one wanted to fall behind.
Kanzaki chatted with Kumiko for a while.
Then—
a euphonium melody suddenly flowed from his phone.
He put in his earphones.
The warm, mellow tone filled his ears.
After the song ended—
"Ni-chan, does it sound good?" Kumiko asked happily.
"Of course. Kumiko's euphonium always sounds good."
"I'm still practicing this piece."
"It still sounds great."
"Hmph. You're just spoiling me."
They talked for over ten minutes before hanging up.
Back in the dormitory, Kanzaki noticed Arima Kazusa lying face-down on his desk.
"Arima."
Kanzaki poked him.
"Senior… I'm dying…"
Kanzaki opened his cabinet and pulled out a limited-edition pudding Masuko had given him.
"Eat this. I need to ask you something."
Arima weakly accepted it.
"What is it, Senior?"
Kanzaki pulled up a chair.
"Your dad—Kousei Arima. He's a famous pianist, right?"
"Yeah."
"My sister plays euphonium. She's been practicing for years, but she doesn't have a truly great teacher."
"Does your father know any top-level wind instrument masters?"
Arima thought for a moment.
Then his eyes lit up.
"He does."
"Really?! Could you ask him to introduce us?"
"An introduction is fine. Whether they accept is another matter."
"That's enough! Just meeting them is already amazing."
Arima nodded.
Kanzaki patted his shoulder hard.
"If you pull this off, you can come bat against me during pitching practice anytime."
Arima's eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
Summer training had only begun—
but bonds were already quietly growing.